ST. LANDRY PARISH, La. (KLFY)- Over the course of two weeks, the Opelousas Police Department has responded to four incidents of gun violence.

Opelousas Police Chief Martin McLendon says crime is a serious issue in the Opelousas community and police officers are going the extra mile to make sure crimes are not being committed.
“In the last 12 months we’ve taken 134 firearms off of the streets but there are still many more in the hands of the wrong people,” the chief told News 10 on Monday.

He said not every case is solved with a simple arrest.

 “We can’t arrest our way out of every situation. We could not buy enough handcuffs to put on people to lock them up,” he said. “We have to make sure the violent criminals are prosecuted.”

Chief McLendon says in order for gun violence to decrease cooperation from the community must increase.
“When we approach the parent’s police officers are getting cursed out, turned away because they don’t want to face the reality that their children are involved in acts of criminal activity,” he said.